Beard styles for a triangle face

What a beard does for a triangle face

The triangle face is narrow at the forehead and widest at the jaw. A beard grows on exactly the part that is already wide, so on this shape it is a tool to be used carefully rather than a balancing weight.

Kept short along the jaw with length concentrated at the chin, a beard adds a little vertical line to the lower face and draws the eye toward the centre rather than the corners.

Grown full and wide, it does the opposite. A big beard that spreads to the jaw corners and the sideburns makes the widest part of the face wider still.

The rule is short at the jaw, length at the chin, cheek line high, no width at the corners.

Styles that suit a triangle face

• Goatee or extended goatee. Hair at the chin and around the mouth with the jaw shaved or kept to stubble. This adds length to the chin and takes the jaw corners out of the picture.
• Short boxed beard trimmed close at the sides. The straight edges give definition, and keeping the sides very short stops the beard adding width.
• Heavy stubble with a clean neck line. Even coverage that shades the jaw without building it out.
• Chin beard or short ducktail that comes to a point at the chin, which narrows the lower face by association.

Cheek line and neck line

Set the cheek line high and natural, close to where the beard grows, so the beard fills the cheeks and adds a little width at the upper face rather than leaving all the coverage at the jaw. A very low cheek line concentrates the beard exactly where the face is widest.

Set the neck line about a finger-width above the Adam's apple and keep the underside trimmed close. Fullness under the jaw adds to the width of the jaw from the front.

Length guide

• Chin: the longest part, a few centimetres if you like, shaped to a soft point or a small square.
• Jaw corners: shortest, stubble or a close trim.
• Cheeks: short to medium, with a high line.
• Sideburns: narrow and tapered; wide sideburns connect to the jaw corners and widen them.

Styles to avoid on a triangle face

• Full, wide beards with volume at the jaw corners.
• Mutton chops and wide sideburns.
• Beards with a low cheek line and a full jaw.
• Beards trimmed square across the bottom at jaw width.

Pairing with hair

The beard keeps weight off the jaw; the hair should add it on top. Pair a goatee or short boxed beard with a quiff, a pompadour, a textured crop with height, or a side part with length on top.

Avoid a flat cut with no height above a full beard, which leaves everything at the bottom.

The face shape test reports the jaw-to-cheekbone ratio and the chin angle; the wider the jaw reads, the shorter the beard should be at the corners.